Then-San Bernardino Police Chief Robert Handy speaks to reporters at a Jan. 7, 2013, news conference where he announced up to $30,000 in rewards for anyone with information leading to the arrest of suspects in connection with three cold cases in which elderly women were robbed and killed.

SAN BERNARDINO >> Two years ago, the then-police chief offered thousands of dollars in rewards for information leading to arrests in three somewhat similar cold cases — a trio of elderly woman were robbed and killed inside their homes.

Last week, police closed the last of the three cases when the District Attorney’s Office charged Jerome Rogers, 58, of San Bernardino with murdering Wanda Lee Paulin in December 2010. He pleaded not guilty Friday.

No reward money was distributed, according to police, but the news conference itself helped crack one case. Police made arrests in the other two based on DNA evidence.

“Any and all information is important,” then-Chief Robert Handy told reporters on Jan. 7, 2013. “It may help us put together the puzzle to help solve these cases.”

A mother who saw clips of Handy’s remarks on TV told police her son may have been involved the September 2005 killing of 90-year-old Josephine Kelly, whose daughter found her tied up and dead of asphyxiation.

“She came forward only because she heard the stuff on TV,” homicide Sgt. Gary Robertson said Sunday. “When she found out there was no suspect in custody, she came forward.”

Police generally hesitate to offer reward money because it can complicate their work.

“Sometimes it creates a whole lot of false information and leads that go nowhere,” Robertson said in a phone interview.

But oftentimes victims’ families request it.

In this rare instance, Handy offered $30,000 — $10,000 for each case. The funds were provided by the police union and asset seizures, like confiscated drug money.

During his five years as a homicide sergeant, Robertson said, he couldn’t remember another time the Police Department offered cash for clues.

The decision was made, he recalled, to bring the cases back in front of the public “to stir up info on these three real high-profile violent crimes.”

Shortly after Kelly’s body was found beaten and bound, police arrested a relative, but the District Attorney’s Office declined to file charges.

The case idled for years until the mother of Michael Mitchell saw the news and told police about multiple conversations where her son and his girlfriend, Kiesha Smith, mentioned a burglary gone bad, according to prosecutors.

“She definitely implicated her son as one of at least two who were involved in it,” Robertson said. “That’s what got us the big break on the Josephine Kelly case.”

Last year, juries found Mitchell and Smith guilty of killing Kelly. They are both serving life sentences in state prisons. A third defendant, Sherry Beck, 33, testified against the couple after taking a plea bargain for a 17-year sentence.

While the announcement of reward money helped bring Kelly’s killer to justice, it didn’t factor into the arrests of a man suspected of killing Wanda Lee Paulin, 86, in December 2010 and Mary Beth Blaskey, 76, in November 2012.

Science assisted in those arrests.

“DNA was instrumental in the Wanda Paulin and Mary Beth Blaskey cases,” Robertson said. “Totally instrumental. Our whole case is totally DNA and some associations. We have no witnesses to either incident.”

Rogers was arrested and charged with killing Blaskey in April 2013.

In late December 2012 an acquaintance of Rogers told police Rogers possessed property possibly stolen from one of the slaying victims, making him a prime suspect.

Police arrested him later that month on suspicion of failing to register as a sex offender. He was given probation and released.

Then, on a Friday in April 2013, a DNA hit connected Rogers to the Blaskey homicide. He was arrested, charged and pleaded not guilty.

During talks with investigators, Rogers mentioned he knew Paulin and was aware she had been killed, according to Robertson.

While Rogers waited — behind bars at West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga — for a jury trial, police took all the evidence in the Paulin case to the crime lab.

Last week a match was made.

On Thursday, Rogers was arrested and charged with killing Paulin.

He denied killing her and is awaiting trial for the two slayings.

Robertson said he’s hoping for a successful prosecution.

“It’s just fantastic to get these three types of cases solved,” he said. “I’m excited as heck, and it at least brings some sort of closure for the families.”

Join the Conversation

We invite you to use our commenting platform to engage in insightful conversations about issues in our community. Although we do not pre-screen comments, we reserve the right at all times to remove any information or materials that are unlawful, threatening, abusive, libelous, defamatory, obscene, vulgar, pornographic, profane, indecent or otherwise objectionable to us, and to disclose any information necessary to satisfy the law, regulation, or government request. We might permanently block any user who abuses these conditions.

If you see comments that you find offensive, please use the “Flag as Inappropriate” feature by hovering over the right side of the post, and pulling down on the arrow that appears. Or, contact our editors by emailing moderator@scng.com.